Welcome!   My name is
Deborah Shrira. I along with my partner, Dean Vereen created Medical Assisted Treatment. ~ Most of you know us,  since we have been around for years. It has been our pleasure to get to know all of you.  If this is your first visit with us, we hope you are finding what you need. If you need any help at all, that is what we are here for.~  We are looking with anticipation to 2007.~  It is going to be a year of victory for all of us  on Medical Assisted Treat-ment and we hope it will be for you too.We want you to know, you or not alone and we ask you to come and join our "Extended Internet Family?"You have nothing to lose, but everything to gain!!!

It's an old adage that the way to be safe is never to be secure....... Each one of us requires the spur of insecurity to force us to do our best.    Harold W. Dodds

Can you believe March is on its way out?  It is a month I choose to forget.  ~ They say when it rains, it pours!!!  It poured on me.  --------They still are some wonderful people in the world.  -----------  Today, I would especially like to take the time out to acknowledge a  very special woman working in the field of "Addiction."  ----There are a lot of people working behind the scenes, they too deserve special attention.   Therefore, I am asking you, if there is any person you would like to acknowledge, then please send us their name, their position, along with a brief description of what they mean to you.

First, I would like to acknowledge my previous counselor, Rebecca Caldwell who works with Cartersville Center Incorporated, a member of CRC Health Group. She was the very best one could ask for. She possessed all the qualities a counselor should have.

She, first of all,  believed in Methadone and understood the pharmacology of the medication and how it worked in the body.  ~ She listened to you and always had time for you if it was important.She not only possessed wisdom but understanding too. She never judged you and if you made a mistake, she didn't look down on you like you were  hopeless.

She knew people were "only human."She knew patients would relapse. She didn't allow the incident to rob you of your dignity. She  always made you feel, as if you were the only patient she had.   She stood up for her patients when she seen they were not being treated fairly.  ~ I am certainly going to miss you, Rebecca,  I want to "Thank You" for being there for me at a time in my life when I really needed you. 

Rebecca Caldwell   You are the Best!

I feel like I owe my viewers and patients to warn them about Cartersville Center
Incorporated. I try and keep them updated all the time from the reports given by others that have been treated unfairly.  If you are attending one that has done you wrong and you would like to share about it -then please by all means, write me  a synopsis of what happened and give me the name of the Methadone Maintenance
Treatment Facility. If we can't obtain justice by any other means then we can at least get the word out to others looking for Methadone Maintenance Treatment.

I never had any problems except with the Doctor. His name is Dr. Parham.  ~ ~ I transferred to CCI after moving to Kennesaw in 1999. It was just too far to drive to the one I had been attending. I had been on methadone since January 1993. I was on 100mg and had been since the first year I started. When they passed the New Rules and Regulations in 2001 taking the dose cap off I asked for a dose increase.  I had been on 100mg for seven years and my dose was not holding me. I started going into withdrawal around 11:00 pm every night.  Dr. Parham turned me down on my dose increase.   

I was shocked and could not understand why. Finally, one day I decided it was time to take action.  I called Dr. Rowles with Georgia State Methadone Authority
and shared my dilemma with him. He was easy to deal with and understood why I needed a dose increase. He advised me to let Dr. Parham know if He did not feel comfortable raising my dose that he  would take responsibility.  ~ He gave us his
personal cell number and told us to have Dr. Parham call him if there was any he
did not understand about it.    I advised my counselor and He did call Dr. Rowles to verify what I had told him.  ~ ~ He confirmed it with Dr. Rowles and proceeded to let our Program Director know. 

I went in to see Dr. Parham for my physical and after He examined me then I  ad-
vised him of my conversation with Dr. Rowles. Needless to say He went into a rage and stormed out of the office. ~ ~ I did get my dose increase and over the years I remained there my counselor managed to get me more increases. From that day
forward Dr. Parham took a dislike toward me.It was no problem until my counselor  left and our Program Director transferred to Tennessee. Once they left -there was no one there who knew the history that had occurred between the Doctor and I. 

I had been on 280mg for four years and I had started going into withdrawal again before morning and I asked my counselor to ask for an increase.  ~ It was denied. She then explained to me they had a Committee set up to hear your grievances if you disagreed with their decision. I said let's go ahead and take it to the grievance
committee. We both knew it probably would not set well with Dr. Parham but we didn't expect the fury of his wrath against me.

I was out of town when a counselor called and told my room mate I needed to come in and have my blood drawn before I picked up my regular month's supply. They were aware I was out of town but I decided to cut my trip short and come on back and take care of it. I showed up at the dosing window on Monday and told Dianne I was here for my Blood Work. She asked me where were my bottles? I said they are at Home. She said we need you to go back and get them before we can do your blood work.  I said it is much too far to go and return today and I was not informed you needed a bottle check.

I went into my counselor's office to speak with her. She was not my counselor but the one assigned to me since my counselor had taken a 90 day leave of absence.
Then Dr. Parham stormed in and announced benzodiazepines has showed up in my urine. I looked at Him and said of course they did, I have been prescribed them for over four years now. He came back with- your urine has never showed positive
before for benzodiazepines. I said, "I beg your pardon I know they have because
Rebecca has reminded me before not to forget to bring in the proof I needed to support the benzodazepines." I have. It has to be in my records. He continued to argue I was wrong actually calling me a liar and went on to say He didn't care if they were prescribed for me that if I continued to take them He would cut my dose in half and drop me down to Phase I.

Needless to say I was very upset and I followed Him out of the office. I spoke with Dianne to see if I could bring my bottles in Wednesday because it was too late now because they were closing.  She preferred I come in Tuesday because they would have three nurses and it would be easier for them. What about me? I had cut my trip short at their request and come in for my bloodwork and they had refused to draw it because I had not brought my bottles in. ~ ~  It was not my fault I had not brought the bottles and they had forgotten to advise me of it when they called. It didn't seem to matter to them that I was inconvenienced. Then, why should it we are only addicts!

Then, I heard Dr. Parham saying I had missed the last three bottle checks and if I did not bring them in - - but before He finished his sentence I interrupted saying I have not missed any bottle checks except maybe the last one. I explained my car was in the shop and I had no way to get there. My counselor advised to come in as soon as they finished the work on my car and I did just what she asked and it was in the same week. She never advised me it would be counted against me. I do know for a fact the first two I showed up for and today I was not advised to bring them in therefore I cannot be held accountable.  I seen no reason to continue to argue with Dr. Parham for I was not accomplishing nothing but when He accused me of lying the second time, I snapped. It was time to transfer.    

If you are curious as to what happened next - you will have to return next month. 
We have received numerous complaints from patients attending CRC Health Group Facilities of similar incidents.  We have heard they are taking people off Xanax® even if they have Doctor's orders to take them or else they are threatening to cut your dose in half.  ~  We have reports coming out of CRC Health Group Facilities
stating the Doctor had accused them of not showing up for bottle checks and He came to us for help because his dose was cut in half.   ~ ~ ~ He is  a Methadone Advocate,  too  and they really don't care for us people advocating for patient's
rights. 

I want to hear from all of you being denied a dose increase and why you were unable to obtain it.  ~ How many of you have transferred to another facility and been denied the dose you were on?   ~ ~ You should be able to transfer on the
same Schedule and Dose you were taking at the Methadone Maintenance Treat
-ment Facility you are transferring from.  Please send me the information and the name of your Methadone Maintenance Treatment Facility because we are going to start posting the names of these facilities along with the Name of the Physician
that denied you the increase.

If circumstances such as these are happening where you are attending- we hope
you will not bury your head in the sand and ignore it because it is only going to get worse. Please inform us of it and remember all conversation between us is Confidential.  We are here to help you but you must make us aware of what is happening at your Methadone Maintenace Treatment Facilities.   

North Carolina SB5 making it murder 2 for selling methadone to someone who dies this is making the sale of methadone equal to selling cocaine or metham-phetamine.

SB193 West Virginia to prevent any new methadone clinics operating for profit.

HB2572 West Virginia Prohibiting the establishment of methadone treatment programs and rohibclinics except those operated by comprehensive community mental health centers.

Senate Bill 450 Indiana The State of Indiana has proposed temporarily banning new methadone clinics and study whether regulations on them are adequate under legislation now headed to the House for consideration.

HB893, HB895, SB518, and SB520 Florida  All of these bills are for Prescription Drug Validation Program HB893, HB895, SB518, and SB520.

Virginia HB2678  Would allow methadone clinics to close on Sundays giving everyone a takehome regardless of how long they have been in program or still using illegal drugs.

Implants that deliver time-released doses of the anti-addiction medication naltrexone
have been touted for preventing drug overdoses, but Australian researchers have found
at least five fatal overdoses among implant patients

Researchers at the University of New South Wales' Drug and Alcohol Research Center said that four men and a woman died from overdoses between 2002 and 2004 despite
the implants. The users were suspected of taking large doses of heroin to overcome the blocking effect of the naltrexone.

"The big thing that has been claimed is if you are actively in treatment with naltrexone
implants you can't overdose, and the fact of the matter is these people did," said study
co-author Louisa Degenhardt.

Another expert said that the patients may have overdosed after the naltrexone wore off.
"The problem is when you stop using [naltrexone] you become sensitive to the effects of heroin, so that even much smaller doses of heroin than you used to use could be 
potentially lethal,"  said Nick Lintzeris of the addiction-treatment program Turning Point.

The research was published in the February 5, 2007 issue of the Medical Journal of Australia.

Reference:  Gibson, A.E. Degenhardt, L.J., Hall, W.D. (2007) Opioid overdose deaths can occur in patients with naltrexone implants.  The Medical Journal of Australia, 183(3): 152-153   

Remember,I want to hear from all of you if you are having problems with your Methadone Maintenance Treatment Facility. Does your facility allow you to take benzodiazepines?
Are you able to obtain a dose increase? Has your facility ever retaliated against you?
Do they have cameras in their restrooms when you give a drug screen?  Has your dose
ever been decreased because you were called back and failed to show?  It is time to tell the truth and stand for our rights.  Are your ready to stand up and be counted??? If you
are then please let me hear from you. Send all correspondence to:

ChangeYourLife@MedicalAssistedTreatment.org

I want to send a special Thank -You to a very special person at The Robert W. Dail Treatment Center in Commerce, Georgia.  She is the Program Director and a counselor at the Facility and she will work with you in every way she can. Her name is Robin Rathburn and she is one" Special Lady." Next month we will be doing a write-up on Robert W. Dail Treatment Center. If any of you live in the vicinity of Commerce then I highly recommend checking out the clinic.  

Welcome to "The Director's View."  I usually share with you here how I feel and view various aspects of life. Sometimes, I may ramble on about myself and bore you and at other times I may reflect back on events. I must not neglect the fact I share recent happenings in the news I feel you would enjoy.  It is really a chance     for you to get to know me more intimately.   

I welcome your participation and feedback. If your view is different than mine then I would love for you to share it with us.    ~   You can learn a lot from others if you listen to them with an open mind.   I am very much interested and care what you have to say and contribute.   ~  ~ ~  I want all of you to feel as if "Medical Assisted Treatment" is your website as much as it is ours.  If you have something you want to say then it is here for your use.

All of you are unique in every way.  ~ I  am sure some of you think you have not anything of importance to share, because you have been labeled worthless by the very people who brought you into this world.  ~  It is difficult for you to open up and share, ~ because you have been ridiculed and beaten down by the cruel and heartless world we all live in.You know who you are and I want you to make the effort to share about yourself and what is in your heart because you will not be judged here.

We all make mistakes and will continue, but we must accept each other for who they are.  We must give to each other unconditional love and we must encourage
each other to continue on in our journey to become free of addiction.  We must
offer those who fall a helping hand because one day we may need the same. ~ I believe as the world continues to turn, we are all going to need friends because the times we live in are going to continually become worse and survival even more difficult.  Personally, I fail to see how you will prevail without a belief in a higher power.

My partner and I started "Medical Assisted Treatment" on our own. We received no
financial help from anyone. ~ ~ We used our money to keep it going and very few people joined.  ~  We understood it was very difficult for most of you, especially if you were on Methadone Maintenance Treatment.  Some of you had to drive many
miles  each  day to dose and  there was a lot of you with  no medical insurance to reimburse you.  We seen the gas prices soar and knew it had to be very difficult
for most of you financially. We set back and left it in God's capable hands and He took care of all of us. I want to take the time to thank Him and to thank all of you
for visiting and acquiring knowledge from our overflowing supply.

I think I have said enough presently to acquaint you with me.  We are always glad to meet new people and I want all of you to begin to move in the areas of change that frightens you and makes you feel insecure for then and only then will change
occur in your life.  You can begin by believing you have something important to
contribute to "Medical Assisted Treatment."  ~You can start by sharing your story 
with us because when people share about their lives, it makes others feel as if they are not the only ones, when they read about others with similar problems. If yours  had a happy ending  and you succeeded then it inspires others  ~ and gives them hope.  You have a gift ~ how can you deny others of what you have to give?

All I am asking of any of you is open up with each other.  ~ If you have a different view about a subject than I, then share it with us. ~ Visit Patients Forum and help others by sharing your experiences and asking questions you haven't any answers to.Give others a chance to help you.  Share yourself .~  Can you open up and let your true colors show? Are you afraid people will reject you? ~  If you are and you remain silent then you will never experience all life has to offer you.  ~  ~ Take a chance on yourself and on others.  Step out into the arena of life and breathe it all in.  I will leave you with this thought.  

A man formerly addicted to prescription pain medication said it is "really, really simple"
to get doctors and hospitals to overprescribe pills, the Des Moines Register reported.

Joe Leonetti said that he would get drugs like Vicodin® and Oxycontin® by going to clinics and emergency rooms and complaining about back pain or other ailments that are difficult to diagnose.  Leonetti said that addicts would share information on how to get pills without arousing suspicion,  ~  such as avoiding asking for specific brands of narcotics. Users would sometimes pretend to go along with doctor's recommendations  of non-narcotic medications or physical therapy."Then you just say it isn't working,and they'll give you something stronger." said Leonetti. 

A health insurer once challenged Leonetti's multiple prescription and refused to pay, but never reported him to the authorities.

Leonetti has been through treatment twice and said that many of his fellow patients were addicted to prescription medications.  ~ ~ ~ ~ He is considering working as an addiction counselor once he completes his own treatment.

Leonetti endorsed the idea of establishing state registries for prescription pain medica-tions so that doctors and pharmacists can check up on suspicious purchases as well  as prescription requests. "I think it's going to do a lot  of people a lot of good." Leonetti
said.

Reference: Des Monies Register March 2006 

Research Summary

A new study finds that one-third of all drivers pulled over for suspicion of impaired driving
tested positive for illicit drugs even though they were under the legal limit for driving with alcohol in their systems.

Irish researchers examined 2,000 blood and urine samples collected from drivers who had been pulled over by police for suspected drunk driving. They found that one in three
samples taken from drivers found to be under the legal alcohol limit had one or more illicit drugs in their system ----- a far higher rate than among drivers who were found to be legally intoxicated from alcohol consumption.

Marijuana was the most common drug detected other than alcohol.

The authors recommended that all drivers suspected of impairment be tested for illicit drugs as well as alcohol. "Too little attention has been paid to the adverse effects of drugs on driving, ~  but drugged driving can be as dangerous as drunken driving,' they wrote.

The study appears in the December 1 issue of the journal Injury Prevention.  

Reference:  Fitzpatrick, P., Daly, Leavy, C.P., Cusack, D.A. (2006)  Drinking,drugs and driving  in Ireland; more evidence for action. Injury Prevention, 12(6): 404-408; doi: 10. 11 36/ip.2006.013177.

Former U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist suffered from addiction-withdrawal symptoms when he was taken off the prescription painkiller Pacidyl® in 1981, according to recently released FBI files. 

The Associated Press reported January 4 that Rehnquist experienced hallucinations and paranoia and tried to escape from the hospital wearing pajamas.  The details were includ -ed in FBI files on the late Supreme Court Justice, released as the result of a Freedom of Information Act request made after Rehnquist's death in 2005.

Rehnquist's 1981 hospital stay was intended to treat his chronic back pain and break his dependence on the painkiller.  He had taken Placidyl for at least a decade; when doctors cut off his supply, the jurist suffered a "disturbance in mental clarity," according to a hospital spokesperson.

Prior to breaking his dependence, Rehnquist was known to occasionally slur his words during Supreme Court arguments.  That problem disappeared after he got off the drug.

Reference:  Associated Press 5 January 2007  

As we usher the 16th chief justice of the United States to his celestial reward, let us remember him in full. He labored successfully to return power to the states, treated colleagues with warmth and respect, was said to be a gregarious boss, and was so inspired by a judge's costume he saw in the performance of a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, added four silly gold stripes to each sleeve of his judicial robe. ~ And for the nine years between 1972 and the end of 1981, ~ William Rehnquist consumed great quantities of the potent sedative-hypnotic Placidyl. So great was Rehnquist's Placidyl habit, dependency, or addiction, depending on how you regard long-term drug use—that by the last quarter of 1981 he began slurring his speech in public, became tongue-tied while pronouncing long words, ~ and many times had trouble finishing his thoughts.

The parade of news stories and TV segments that followed Rehnquist's death made little mention of his affair with Placidyl. New York Times Supreme Court reporter Linda Greenhouse offered more than any reporter, but still just 57 words near the end of a 6,100-word story. The Boston Globe made a two-sentence mention. The Washington Post story about his death ignored this chapter of his life, as did the Los Angeles Times.

Obviously the lead of the chief's obituary should not have read, ~ ~ ~ "William H. Rehnquist, a man with a jones for Placidyl, died yesterday. He also served as Chief Justice of the United States for 19 years." But the reluctance to explore this part of Rehnquist's life at any length illustrates a general rule of journalism: 

~ Most obituarists prefer the airbrush to the sharpened pen when it comes to the famous and powerful.  ~ In Rehnquist's case, reporters can't make the  "I was on deadline" excuse.  ~ ~ ~ ~ The chief justice gave generous advance notice of his impending death for months, and novella-length pieces like the Greenhouse obit were hardly banged out over Labor Day weekend.

Recounting Rehnquist's Placidyl story isn't just a bit of journalistic blood sport at the expense of a dead man. ~ ~ ~ ~  His unorthodox drug consumption first made headlines in 1982, when the Washington Post (owned by the same corporation that owns Slate) broke the story, when he entered the hospital to get off the stuff. ~ The Placidyl episode was also news in 1986, when President Ronald Reagan upgraded Rehnquist from associate justice by nominating him as chief. A confidential report on Rehnquist's medical history prepared for the Senate Judiciary Committee, ~ ~ which contained more details about his habit, was leaked to the press.

"The Rehnquist Story" deserves a third airing today if only to illustrate the ugly double standards that excuse extreme drug use by the powerful, especially if their connection is a prescribing doctor, and condemns to draconian prison terms the guy who purchases his drugs on the street. Reviewing Rehnquist's tale one more time also demonstrates the reluctance of the Senate—and some members of the press—to grade the mental competency of judges and judicial nominees.

The 1986 medical report on Rehnquist described him as seriously "dependent" on Placidyl from 1977 to 1981.  ~ ~  ~ He often consumed three month's worth of the drug in one month before requesting more from Dr. Freeman H. Cary, the attend-ing physician to Congress, who prescribed it.  Anonymous sources told the Post that Cary first prescribed Placidyl to Rehnquist in 1971 to help him sleep through his severe back pains, but "Cary reportedly told the FBI that Rehnquist had taken  it before."

What is Placidyl?  ~ ~ ~ Some news clips, such as the Boston Globe obit, call it a painkiller.   ~  Yes, it's a painkiller—in the sense that a fistfull of Ambien is a pain killer.  ~ ~ ~ ~ You take it and it knocks you out. Placidyl is a "sedative-hypnotic" developed to help insomniacs sleep.  ~ ~See this period advertisement for Placidyl and this one, too. ~ The abuse potential of Placidyl has always been rated as high: An associate professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University told the Post in 1986 that it was ~ "a strong drug I would use only under very exceptional circum-stance" and that he wouldn't give it to people for more than one or two weeks. He added that it shouldn't be given to patients who suffered both pain and insomnia.

The standard dose for adults is 500 milligrams, taken at bedtime. ~ ~  Rehnquist initially took 200 milligrams daily but by 1981 was taking 1,500 milligrams a day. Increasing dosage indicates drug dependency, the Johns Hopkins professor ex-plained. For more about Placidyl's potency, see this "product information" from 1971 distributed by the Abbott Laboratories, the manufacturer in the early 1970s, and reprinted in Licit and Illicit Drugs by Edward M. Brecher.

After the Post broke the story about Rehnquist's drug habit,

Other news organizations reported that his "health problem" had been apparent to Supreme Court observers for three months before he was hospitalized on Dec. 27, 1981, (UPI) and that "reporters and lawyers at the Court" had noticed Rehnquist's speaking problem "in recent months" (New York Times).

According to a January 4, 1982, New York Times account, Rehnquist sought help with the drug in December 1981 because it no longer relieved his pain. He entered George Washington University Hospital on December 27. ~ ~ ~  According to the physician spokesman for the hospital he suffered "disturbances in mental clarity, characterized by distorted perceptions," as doctors weaned him off the drug. The spokesman added that after his Placidyl was cut off, ~ Rehnquist began ''hearing things and seeing things that other people did not hear and see.'' The doctors took his dose back up before re-weaning him. By mid-January, Rehnquist returned to the bench.

When Rehnquist's drug problem became an issue during the 1986 confirmation hearings, Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, defended Rehnquist in a Post story, saying he got into trouble with Placidyl because he was "a very compliant patient" who "followed the advice" of his doctors. Ah, yes, one of the most brilliant jurists of his time was the victim of his rotten doctors for almost a decade!  ~ Are we to believe that one of the court's sharpest minds never availed himself of a Physicians' Desk Reference for independent medical information, ~  or in any way tried to educate himself about the drug he was taking in larger and larger quantities? The Senate Judiciary Committee asked Rehnquist no questions about his drug use, and he was, of course, confirmed as chief justice. ~ The debate over whether Rehnquist's drug use might be relevant to his fitness to serve as chief never got started.

The Rehnquist narrative presented here owes much to legal scholar David J. Garrow's "Mental Decrepitude on the U.S. Supreme Court: The Historical Case for a 28th Amendment," a 50,000-word article in the fall 2000 issue of the University of Chicago Law Review. Garrow believes a constitutional amendment should be passed forcing judges to retire at 75, and he inquires about the mental competency of a number of Supreme Court justices, including Rehnquist and Thurgood Marshall. Most court observers now concede that Marshall had lost much of his hearing and half his bag of marbles by his final years of service on the court. Garrow blames the Supreme Court press corps for not aggressively covering either such mental slippage or Rehnquist's "publicly visible struggle with deleterious overmedication."

 One fascinating aspect of Rehnquist's drug habit is that nobody has ever demonstrated that his performance ever flagged during his decade-long binge. USA Today Supreme Court correspondent Joan Biskupic didn't cover the court during Rehnquist's drug days, but in examining the papers of justices Brennan, Powell, Marshall, and Blackmun, she says, "There's no sign that [Rehnquist] wasn't keeping up with his work" over the period he was taking Placidyl.

Tony Mauro, who covers the court for American Lawyer Media's Legal Times, says Rehnquist's speech problem manifested itself just as he joined the beat.  ~ ~ "I do remember him speaking oddly," he says, but he didn't give it much thought. "In retrospect, I should have. A lot of us [reporters] felt that way."

A defense can be made for not including the Placidyl saga in Rehnquist's obituaries. As the Washington Post Supreme Court correspondent Charles Lane points out, his story was not intended to be "a complete biography." ~ Lane has written about Rehnquist's drug use in the context of his thyroid cancer.

Or am I unfair to link the reluctance of journalists to zoom in for a close-up on a dead person's warts to a general deference to authority or,in the case of Rehnquist a class bias that predisposes them to look past his drug habit as purely a medical problem?  ~ I think not.  ~ This was a watershed event in Rehnquist's life. Did the experience—being dazed on drugs, humiliated in the press, getting off Placidyl—contribute to his jurisprudence?  ~  How could it not have?  ~ ~ Supreme Court correspondents, start your word processors.

Reference: The Man In Full.By Jack Shafer   Slate Magazine
Posted:  Friday, Sept. 9, 2005, at 5:28 PM ET

February is almost gone and I failed to wish all of you a "Happy Valentine's Day!"  I  am hoping surely some of you had a "Significant Other" to spend it with.  ~ Of course, as for me, I spent it alone and working. I did come up with a thought and I really would like some feedback from all of you.  Do you think some of you could help me? I promise if you will provide the feedback, you can remain anonymous
if you choose to.

Since February is the "Month for Lovers,"  I was curious as how  marriages work out if both of you are taking methadone.  I can remember years ago when I did my time in Residential Treatment Centers (Drug-Free) - they certainly frowned upon two people getting together if they both had a problem with drugs. ~  I do know it happens a lot .  I can understand the fact they want your mind  to stay on getting clean, not on the opposite sex. They were always complaining a relationship such  as  I am speaking of would never work between two people. How do all of you feel about it?  Do you believe they are right?  I am not positively sure I believe it
totally. I believe it depends on the two people. 

I am asking you to send me some feedback on how you feel about it. ~ ~ If you have been in a relationship or if you are in a relationship now then I would like
to know how it is working out?   I would like to hear as much as you can tell me about your relationship and if you feel it is working out?  If you are having any problems, then I would for you to share with us what they are? Do you have any
words of wisdom for others who maybe pursuing a relationship like yours? ~ If you have been in one previously ~ and if it did not work out between the two of you,then I want to hear from you and why you believe it didn't work out? ~ I am just  hoping some of you have the guts to open up and share with us because what you have to say may save others from making the same mistakes you did, or your story could give them the courage to pursue a relationship. How about it? I will
personally give $5 to each story I publish and I need them by March 15, 2007.

Wanted:   If you and your mate are both taking methadone then we want your story. We need as much detail as you  can give to us. ~ How long have you been living together? ~ Are there any children? ~  Is it working out and can you share some of your ups and downs with us? If you have been in one that didn't work out then we would love to hear from you and why you  think it didn't work out.I will pay $5 for each one published. Need address to mail check. Send: MATDirector@aol.com Deadline:15 March 2007

What are they comparing us to ~ sex offenders? I resent it!  Next, it may be methadone, then what?   

A number of states have either created online public registries of methampheta --mine offenders or are considering doing so. 

Officials in states like Tennessee and Montana, where registries are already in place, say the public has a right to know if convicted drug offenders are living in
their neighborhood.

"It lets the community know that there's someone like this in their community, because the likelihood of them going back and doing it again is high." said Georgia State Representative, Mike Coan, who has proposed a meth-offender
registry in his state.  "It's no different, really from the sex offender (registry).  If
there's one living near me, I want to know it."

Tennessee is one of the four states with an online meth-offender registry, starting the first in the United States in 2005.  It now includes the name of 400 offenders.
Similar bills have been introduced in Oklahoma, Kentucky and West Virginia.
Illinois and Minnesota are in the process of implementing meth registries.

The registries are seen as a public-safety weapon against meth-lab operators who
open clandestine labs full of potentially lethal chemicals.  But critics see the list as counterproductive.

"The problem with these registries in that we're creating a class of untouchables within our society who cannot rent apartments or secure employment," said
Jonathan Turley of George Washington University.  "When you diminish the likeli-hood that ex-felons can live and work in society, you increase the chances that they will return to their criminal behavior." 

The proposed Georgia law would require methamphetamine offenders to be listed on the registry for seven years,the registry would include the offender's photo and address.  A proposed Federal Law, introduced by Representative Steve Pearce, (R-N.M.), would go even further, calling for a National Registry listing anyone convict -ed of manufacturing, distributing or dispensing any illegal drug.

Pearce's registry, endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police, would include drug offenders' current addresses and license plate numbers; the information could remain online permanently.    

Reference:  MSNBC  Date:  December 7, 2006 

Can you believe they are selling at $20.00  for 1-10mg tablet on the street? Tablets are dispensed for pain; liquid is dispensed for Addiction. Methadone dispensed from our Methadone  Maintenance Treatment Facilities are selling for $1.00 for 1mg = 1ml.

The rate of fatal overdoses attributed to methadone use increased faster than overdoses involving any other drug between 1999 and 2004 according to the
National Center For Health Statistics.

~ ~ Fatal methadone overdoses in 2004 which totaled 3,849, rose 390 percent from 1999. Almost 13 percent of all overdose deaths in the United States in 2004 involv-ed methadone, the National Center For Health Statistics report said, up from 4% in 1999.  

The trend is partly due to the fact more doctors are prescribing methadone as a painkiller, seeing it as a more affordable alternative to drugs like Oxycontin® and Vicodin®, methadone also has a high potential for abuse.Each dose of methadone
costs only a few cents, although it can fetch $20 per pill on the street. 

Most people who suffer fatal methadone overdoses are drug addicts, according to Nicholas Reuter, a senior public health analyst at the Substance Abuse And Mental Health Services Administration.

Methadone also is a tricky drug to manage even when legally prescribed as a pain medication, warned the Food And Drug Administration last fall.  "Methadone may build up in the body to a toxic level if it is taken too often, if the amount taken is too high, or if it is taken with other medications, " the FDA said. 

Reference:  USA Today  13 February 2007 

Suboxone:  The Light At The End Of The Tunnel

"Medical Assisted Treatment of America" would like to announce the opening of a "Suboxone Assisted Treatment."  It is online. It is not completely finished but you are  all welcome to take a look.  We will keep you updated as to when it will be completely finished.

http://www.SuboxoneAssistedTreatment.com

Reviewed by: John M. Grohol, Psy.D.
    on Tuesday, Jan, 9, 2007

Scientists have discovered that addiction, the compulsive physiological need for and use of a habit-forming substance, is really a matter of learned memories within the brain.   ~   As discussed in the January 2007 issue of the Harvard Mental Health Letter, addictive drugs stimulate a reward circuit in the brain.

The circuit provides incentives for action by registering the value of very important experiences. The memories of the experience typically link a substance to a very pleasurable reward.

Recovery is a matter of learning how to diminish the memories, a difficult process that involves avoidance of the stimulating agent and sometimes even the cues that predict its presence.

According to the Harvard Mental Health Letter, rewarding experiences trigger the release of the brain chemical dopamine,telling the brain“do it again."What makes permanent recovery difficult is drug-induced change that creates lasting memories linking the drug to a pleasurable reward.

Recent research shows that addiction involves many of the same brain circuits that govern learning and memory. ~ Long-term memories are formed by the activity of brain substances called transcription factors.

All perceived rewards, including drugs, increase the concentration of transcription factors.  ~ ~  So repeatedly taking drugs can change the brain cells and make the memory of the pleasurable effects very strong.

Even after transcription factor levels return to normal addicts may still remain very hypersensitive to the drug and the cues that predict its presence. This can heighten the risk of relapse in addicts long after they stop taking the drug.

Knowing more about how addiction works in the brain has not - yet - given us any strikingly effective new treatments,but it has suggested new possibilities while still providing a better understanding of how the available treatments work.

“The hardest job will be finding substances that lower the risk of addiction but do not interfere with responses to natural rewards,” says Dr. Michael Miller, editor in chief of the Harvard Mental Health Letter. So far there is little evidence that any one type of therapy works better for addiction than another.

Source: Harvard Mental Health Letter

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Reviewed by: John M. Grohol, Psy.D.
    on Friday, Feb, 9, 2007

Perhaps it is not surprising that a new study finds a child’s perception of parents’ behavior influences the development of the child’s behavior as they grow toward adulthood.However, when the behavior is antisocial, defined in terms of substance use,recklessness and breaking laws,arguments and conflicts with others,and lying, the societal impact becomes relevant.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, sought to determine how antisocial behavior in one genera-tion is transmitted to the next.  ~Their findings are published in January/February 2007 issue of the journal Child Development.

The research was funded in part by the National  Institute  of  Child  Health  and  of Human Development,National Institute on Drug Abuse,and the National Institute of Mental Health.

In the study,researchers looked at four-hundred and thirty adolescents and their biological  parents across the children’s high school years.

Specifically, the study examined the adolescents’ level of antisocial behavior, the level of such behavior in parents, and the teens’ general perceptions of  parents’ behavior.

The study examined if the effect of parents’ antisocial behavior on the teens’ own antisocial behavior could be explained by the teens’ perceptions of their parents  as antisocial, as well as by disrupted parenting practices, such as poor monitoring, hostility, and harsh and inconsistent discipline.

The researchers concluded that the children learned their antisocial behavior by observing and interpreting their parents’ antisocial behavior. Parents’ behavior provides children with a model for their own behavior, and children’s perception that a parent is antisocial may be a key component in choosing and validating their own behaviors, giving children permission to engage in this type of behavior.

For the teenagers in this study, the recognition of antisocial behavior in their own parents played an important role in increasing their risk for similar conduct; in fact, it played more of a role than the teens’ assessment of their parents’ parenting abilities.

Furthermore, the findings were the same for the effect of both fathers’ and their mothers’ antisocial behavior and parenting on the development and growth of boys’ and girls’ antisocial behavior.

A notable finding was that the strongest influence on a child’s antisocial behavior in the 12th grade was that child’s own level of behavior in 9th grade.This indicates that there is stability in antisocial behavior through adolescence, and that their processes reported in this study are well under way by the 9th grade.

“These findings suggest that focusing on how children perceive mom and dad’s behavior and the origin of these perceptions could  sure facilitate family-centered interventions designed to reduce the risk for problem behavior,”  according  to Shannon J. Dogan, the study’s lead author and a research assistant at the University of California, Davis.

“Further, identifying antisocial parents would assist in early identification of at-risk families. Interventions that reduce parental antisocial behavior and improve their parenting practices should also reduce levels of problem behavior among teens.”

Source: Society for Research in Child Development

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North Carolina SB5 making it murder 2 for selling methadone to someone who dies.........this is making the sale of methadone equal to selling cocaine and/or
methamphetamine.

SB193 West Virginia to prevent any new methadone clinics operating for profit.

HB2572 West Virginia Prohibiting the establishment of methadone treatment programs and rohibclinics except those operated by comprehensive community mental health centers.

Virginia HB2678 Would allow methadone clinics to close on Sundays giving everyone a takehome regardless of how long they have been in program or still using illegal drugs.

We definitely need to take an interest in the laws they are trying to pass. Are they any of you out there interested in working with me to see if we can stop them.  I am only one:
I can do more than my part but I can 't do it all.  We need to stop some of these dead in their tracks. How about it? 

I have much more information and a lot of articles you would enjoy but there is only me.
I can use some volunteers that can donate their time to a good cause. ~ ! I need some people that can work and will be available at a minute's notice if I need them. If you meet my qualifications then we will be glad to pay you. There is such more more we can do and I sit here with my hands tied because I can't find any qualified help. I have worked three years without pay and my partner and I used our time which I discovered how very
valuable it was, but we used our own resources to keep it all going because we wanted to help all of you needing us. We truly cared about you and we still do. You haven't seen the best I could do because I have done it all, except we do have two faithful people, both with a heart of gold that has worked many hours and gave of themselves asking nothing in return. Now we can finally pay them but they never expected money,they just wanted to give back what had so freely been given them.

I would like to personally thank Laura Conners RN and  J. Rogowski M.D. for giving of their time so freely to help others.  Thank you.       

Until next month, take care.  Remember you are never alone. We are here for you. Thank You for your time.  Your friend always, Deborah Shrira